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“Hey,” I said, turning in my chair. A part of me wanted to say something about him coming into my room without knocking, but I bit my tongue, not in the mood to fight with anyone else tonight.
My father smiled at the sight of me. “I wanted to check on you,” he told me. His tie was loosened around his neck. “You left the party early.”
“Carla wanted to leave.”
Part of me knew I should tell my father the truth, or some version of it. Caleb was a potential murderer, and the fact that he was in town was odd. At the very least, I suspected that Carla’s father wanted her away from him, especially since he was on drugs.
But I kept my mouth shut. Telling my father the truth would simply get him involved, and I wanted the freedom to handle this on my own.
“I wanted to tell you that I’m proud of you.”
My father was not cold with his praise, which I appreciated, but when he spoke, I felt a sort of twinge in my chest.
“I know that you didn’t want Carla here.”
I sighed. Apparently, tonight was the time that we were going to rehash the fact that I hadn’t been happy with Carla’s presence. In hindsight, I wished that I kept those feelings buried. They were starting to bite me in the ass.
“But you’ve done a good job with her.”
My stomach turned. “She’s not a toy,” I snapped, his words causing my stomach to turn slightly. “Carla just wants to get her life back on track.”
His brow drew together. “Sure, but I’ve noticed that you’ve kept her close, and I wanted you to know that I appreciate that. I’m sure you didn’t plan to spend your summer babysitting.”
I let my father talk as I remained silent. My father was a master at digging information out of people using these types of questions, so I didn’t know how genuine this was.
He gave me a small smile. “I know that I don’t always give you the praise you deserve.” He chuckled and leaned against the door. “Your mother likes to remind me of that fact whenever I forget.”
This made me smile. My mother was the heart of our family. She kept us all honest and emotional.
“It’s my job to keep the family safe,” I tell him. “Just like you always have.”
I expected the pride on my father’s face to intensify, but instead, his lips dropped a bit, and he looked as though he did not like the answer on my face.
“You should get some rest,” he said after a beat. “We’ll have to do breakfast soon, just the two of us, like when you were younger.”
He walked out of the room, once more leaving me alone. This was the first time that I’d been alone in my room in nearly two weeks. Normally, I loved the peace of my own space, but I’d gotten used to Carla’s presence, and her not being with me made me feel empty.
Somehow, this whole situation spun out of my control, and I had no idea how to reel it back in.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
I could barely keep my eyes open as I sat across from Sophia at her favorite coffee shop. When she’d texted me about getting together, I’d jumped at the chance, desperate to get out of the house.
“Are you sure you are alright?” Sophia had been asking me the same question all morning, and I knew it was because I looked like shit. It was one of the reasons I wanted out of the house. I knew if Marco or Ivy saw me, the questions would never end. “Did something happen with you and Eli? Ingrid texted me to see how you were.”
That gave me pause. “Is that why you wanted to get coffee?” I asked.
Sophia laughed and shook her head. “I don’t take orders from Ingrid Wright.” She brought her cup to her lips, primly taking a small sip of the hot liquid. Sophia was one of the few people I knew who wanted to drink steaming hot liquid when it was one-hundred degrees outside. “Besides, I already texted you before I saw her message.”
My shoulders dropped slightly. “Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “I had a shit night.”
That was an understatement. Between what Ingrid told me, Caleb’s drug-fueled assault, and Eli’s cold dismissal, I’d spent the entire night in bed crying, which resulted in red, puffy eyes that were impossible to hide.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked, biting her lip. “You don’t have to, but I’m here if you do.”
The thing I liked the most about Sophia was that she was pushy in some ways and not in others. She just accepted whatever I was willing to give her. No one, not even Eli, had ever been willing to just let me be.
“My father sent me here because my mother and brother were murdered in our house.”
